I recently got CS4 Extended version of Photoshop and need to work on my RAW files, but they won't open. I can see the thumbnails in Bridge and when I try to open them Photoshop says they're "not the right type of document"...so...not sure what to do. I've done a ton of research and cannot figure out why these files are unable to open. I need help!

What camera do you have? CR2 files from each model are different, and if you're camera is newer than Camera Raw 5.7 then you won't be able to open the CR2 files directly. You'll have to go through the free DNG converter app or buy Photoshop CS5.

You either need to pay for the upgrade to PS CS5 and update it to the latest versions of things, OR convert your CR2 files to DNG files using the latest version of the DNG Converter which is free from Adobe and they will open in the older ACR that you have with CS4.

You can find the latest DNG Converter by drilling down into the Camera RAW 6.6 update pages linked off of:

Something weird going on here - My CS4 opened all my EOS 7D raw (CR2) files perfectly until this morning, I worked on one file, closed it then went to open another in Bridge and as I looked at the screen the images turned one by one into icons.

I tried another folder, same thing, f I try to open a file I just get the message saying that the file can't be opened, even though I've been working on them since I bought the camera.

EOS 5d raw files are fine, it's just the 7D.

I've uninstalled and re-installed CS4 and the latest updates, no luck. I've run a virus scan, no viruses. The only thing I can think of is that there must be a date and time set somewhere in CS4 that's preventing me opening the files.

Vista 64, CS4 64 bit, I removed and reinstalled CS4 then tried installing the camera raw 6.5 (and 6.6) updater but I just get a message saying it's not applicable.

I am the administrator and no, the security on my system hasn't changed

ACR 6.x will only work with Photoshop CS5. The last version that will work with CS4 is version 5.7. If your camera is not supported in that version you will either have to upgrade Photoshop, are else use the latest DNG converter to create DNG copies of your raw files.

Thanks, I'll try to get a copy of 5.7. It should work with the camera - it has been doing since April 2011, it only stopped working today for some reason.

As Adobe always release a new version whenever I update and then refuse to support the version I've just bought (as they are doing in this case) then I'll not bother buying anymore updates. Any ideas where can I get a DNG convertor?

The 7D was supported in ACR 5.6 so you should be fine if you update to 5.7. It is still a mystery why it started failing this morning. You should be able to check for updates inside CS4 from the Help menu, and it’ll know that ACR 5.7 is the last compatible version.

Adobe only updates ACR for the current version of Photoshop. The release schedule for Photoshop has been reasonably stable at 18-months give or take a few months, for quite a few versions, so if you really updated to CS4 just before CS5 came out, that is not Adobe’s fault. Unless they change their mind, starting with CS6 Adobe will require you update every time or pay full price, apparently because they feel they are losing money by people skipping a versions.

An alternative is to use Lightroom which costs half the price of Photoshop, and continue to use Photoshop CS4 to do your final edits, but use LR in place of ACR for most things.

Thanks, I'll try to get a copy of 5.7. It should work with the camera - it has been doing since April 2011, it only stopped working today for some reason.

As Adobe always release a new version whenever I update and then refuse to support the version I've just bought (as they are doing in this case) then I'll not bother buying anymore updates. Any ideas where can I get a DNG convertor?

As Adobe always release a new version whenever I update and then refuse to support the version I've just bought (as they are doing in this case) then I'll not bother buying anymore updates. Any ideas where can I get a DNG convertor?

Are you saying you buy new cameras, but as far as Photoshop goes you wait until the end of a release cycle to buy an upgrade to the latest version of Photoshop, you don't have their free DNG converter which will allow you to use your old software with new cameras, THEN you blame Adobe for not supporting you?

Consider this as an alternate strategy:

1. Buy the Adobe Photoshop upgrade to the latest version when it is first released.

2. Enjoy the convenience of full support throughout the release cycle.

I bought CS4 a year before I bought the 7D, photoshop read all the 7D files PERFECTLY until this morning, then it just stopped reading them.

As for buying each new release, er, no. Most photographers I know don't get much benefit out of the upgrades anyway as most of the 'new features' aren't really applicable to the majority of their work, so they only upgrade every second or third release.

As for myself, I only bought CS4 as I upgraded my pc to a 64 bit machine.

If Adobe want everyone to upgrade each time they bring out a new release then I think they'll lose a lot of customers, I can get by quite happily with the conversion software provided by the camera manufacturer, it's just easier to open it in Bridge.

If you lose your 7D RAW capability again, come back before changing anything. After re-installing, had the Adobe Updater started up a little sooner, no forum post would have been necessary.

A customer who skips a version is already a lost customer.

We can all find ways not to spend money that we don’t have enough of. Adobe also is trying to find ways to not fire workers. They have already outsourced their level-one support to India. Now they’re trying something else to even out their cash flow.

Us hobbyists are at the mercy of policies meant for business-related customers, just the like high-end DSLR pricing. A 1D can’t cost 8 times more to make than a 1000D.

Another thing would be to purge your Camera RAW cache and your thumbnail cache, I think there are two caches you can find in Preferences in either Bridge or Photoshop, itself, in case the cache has become corrupted.

If this doesn’t fix things, then go out to where the cache is reported as being located in the settings and look at the permissions of the folders, there. You also might try changing the cache locations to somewhere else that you are sure you have permissions for.

Run as SCANDISK or CHKDSK or whatever it is called, nowadays, in case something is bad in the file-system that Bridge has detected.

If you're filling the Camera Raw cache but your disk(s) have enough space, you could consider increasing the space allocated for the cache to grow. It's next to the [Purge Cache] button in the Camera Raw Settings dialog.

I've had the same problem recently and worked on the solution this morning. I havn't read the full info stream here, but can tell you what finally worked for me today.

I also have CS4, and recently bought a Canon 7D. My .CR2 files would not open, due to proprietay issues with the new camera.

I first had to buy a download of WinZip, since I wasn't able to open any download from Adobe. The WinZip was about $30. Next, I went back to Adobe/downloads/updates and used Find Product Updates menu. I found the compatable update of RAW plug in was 5.7 for our CS4 version. I clicked the link to this download, and began the process by clicking Save. I then went to the Download folder and found the file from Adobe in the WinZip folder. At this point I went back to the Adobe download site and printed out the download instructions concerning where to find the old plug in, what to do with it, and how to install the newer downloaded plug in.

After all this, I opened CS4, Bridge, located my first .CR2 file, and it worked just fine. I was also able to convert these .CR2 files, once opened, to DNG files.

Thanks for the information here, Noel. I also appreciate Doug's reply. Perhaps I do have a setting on the computer that sent the download from Adobe only to the Zip folder, but would have no clue as to how to change that. ( I'm not a real good IT guy..............: ).

Anyway, It seems that the question has been answered, and the information in the forum got me started in the right direction.

Good to know that there are forums like these to help out. Thansk again.

dng converter does NOT work. pointed it to the file containing my cr2 files from canon 600D camera and it says the folder is empty. pointed it to the memory card from the camera and it says that is empty as well. the converter is the verions listed for the 600D. any way to get a converter from adobe that works?

dng converter does NOT work. pointed it to the file containing my cr2 files from canon 600D camera and it says the folder is empty. pointed it to the memory card from the camera and it says that is empty as well. the converter is the verions listed for the 600D. any way to get a converter from adobe that works?

I suspect you may be misinterpreting what you're seeing, hawaiilovesart. No image thumbnails or files will show up in the folder selection window, because you're selecting a folder with the UI, not a file. Once you've got it pointed to the right places, go ahead and tell it to do the conversion. You'll find it works.

Make sure you are running the latest version of the application (6.7 as of this writing, with 7.1RC beta available), which understands the most different camera formats.

yes version 6.7 worked thanks and they open in CS just fine. Odd that version 6.4 did not work because that is the one that officially lists the canon 600D as now supported.

There is no preview of image tho when I open the dng folder, only the icon with the blue shutter. Is there a way to show thumbs? Now I have open Faststone so I can see thumbs to match image to file name, much easier that way lol

You have to get a codec that understands DNG files. I think may be one somewhere on the Adobe Labs site (search for it).

I don't know about an Adobe DNG codec because I've bought a commercial codec pack that understands virtually all files, including DNG files and even Nikon D800 raw files. It's called the FastPictureViewer Codec Pack, and it gives you the ability to see thumbnails from virtually every image file type there is in all the different flavors of Explorer window.

I have the simple answer after 20 hours of research, Adobe REFUSING to help because I do not have NEW product, which is terrible. One sentence would have saved me ALL THAT TIME.

I have CS4. I have a new computer. I reinstalled CS4. I could not get the latest version of Camera Raw which is Camera Raw 5.7 to install. My raw files could not be seen. Finally I hit upon the answer.

BRIDGE > EDIT > PREFERENCES > now uncheck START BRIDGE AT LOGIN.

Now you can easily download and install Camera Raw 5.7 which will reveal your raw files and get back to normal no thanks to Adobe help.

Question I have a PowerPC G5 that I got for my photography hobby for $100 and it has all the CS3/4 installed as well as Lightroom and iphoto. So will the CR2 to DNG converter work on that. Is it all worth the work or would jpeg files be ok to work with in all these programs. All I want to do is learn photoshop on the old system and do some creative editing of photos or minor adjustments. Just for that I don't want to spend $4000 on a brand new mac pro with I don't know 24 cores and 800 stream processor graphics card. The 6600 card and the quad core g5 with 3 tb storage should be ok for me for now. So will cr2 to dng work or is there a version that runs on a g5 architecture. Oh and i don't know if there is a CS5 version that works on g5.